


katzen

by essektheylyss (midnightindigo)



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Ficlet, Fluff, Future Fic, M/M, Polymorph Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-09 19:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 502
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27571876
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightindigo/pseuds/essektheylyss
Summary: Caleb and Essek sometimes end up working late, but they always wait up for each other.
Relationships: Essek Thelyss/Caleb Widogast
Comments: 8
Kudos: 136





	katzen

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very small bit of nonsense I tossed on tumblr a while ago, bon appetit

It’s easy to miss, really. The striping is nearly identical, and after a long day, when he pours himself a drink and settles into his worn, leather armchair, legs curled beneath him, with a book in one hand and a cat absently purring beneath his other, he doesn’t check where his partner is.

They often work late in one office or another, grading papers or, in Caleb’s case, finishing administrative work once the hall lights are meant to be out. It is not uncommon to have a moment to one’s self when school is in session purely based on how much work they both have to accomplish on any given day, but they always wait up for the other before they climb the tower stairs for bed.

And that’s what he’s doing, working through a tricky book he’s had smuggled out of the Dynasty, when he misses how quickly the time is passing this evening. It is half an hour later when, a drink in his hand, the cat beside him elicits an almost insectile whine, and he jumps, reflexes muddied by exhaustion, when the cat on the arm of his chair suddenly turns back into a curled Caleb, blinking against the sudden shift in his surroundings. 

“ _Gods above_ ,” Essek hisses, jerking his hand enough that liquor splashes over his shirt—thankfully missing the book—as Caleb pushes himself to sit up, rubbing his eyes. “I had been under the impression that you were Frumpkin all evening.”

Caleb shakes his head, eyes dulled by sleep, and nudges him aside to slide into the chair next to him, which is large enough for them both to fit snugly. He catches Essek’s hand before he can prestidigitate the liquid from his shirt and instead fumbles with the buttons of it, helping relieve him of the soiled shirt. “I realized you’d arrived—I did not have the adequate intelligence to consider that it might be helpful to let you know it was me.”

Essek lets him help him out of his shirt and coils into the space beneath Caleb’s arm, exhaling contentedly. “Well, perhaps next time you will think to do so, before I ruin another blouse.”

Caleb hums into his hair, still caught in the sleepy warmth of being a cat and being in love, and peppers kisses along the side of his temple down across his ear. “I don’t know that cat intelligence works that way.”

Essek shivers under his touch, though he raises an eyebrow and returns to his book. “Well, I’m glad to have you as a reading companion. But I am going to _read_ , before we retire.”

“If you must,” Caleb mumbles, continuing to entice him with kisses down his neck, and he only manages another sentence before he closes his eyes and leans into him, closing the book. 

“Alright, Katze, I suppose it is time—,” he teases, grinning around the Zemnian word, and Caleb’s eyes pierce him fondly before he captures the rest of the words in his mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed!


End file.
